Cancer.
It lives inside of you. Literally and figuratively. Even after it is gone. No one can know quite exactly what it is like to be a victim of such a vicious and unjust predator unless they have experienced it themselves. The hardest part? These tiny cells that are trying to kill you, have been kept in safe harbor by you. You are the one who has been nurturing them, allowing them to grow until the time arises for them to strike.
Shock. Fear. Anger. Acceptance. Hope. Hopelessness. Courage. Faith. Strength.
I speak from not only the perspective of a cancer victim but as a daughter of a cancer victim, and a best friend of a cancer victim. But let me drop a line or two about this word "victim". I hate this word and I will tell you why. "Victim" to me, implies that the individual affected by this incident has not recovered. To me, it implies that the assailant won. And let me tell you something else. Each and every person that I know, alive or passed on to the wonderful world that awaits us, has recovered and was NOT defeated.
This disease can do a lot of horrid things to an individual, this is true. It can cause a beautiful, young girl with long and flowing dark brown hair to evolve into what she would consider herself to be viewed as hideous. Limbs that we all take for granted can disappear in the blink of an eye. Brilliant minds that have yet to grow and develop are dissected and turned into laboratory specimens. The very essence of a man or woman's physical identity can be lost forever. These individuals go to war, and they are the wreckage.
But let me tell you what is not and never can be lost, dissected, radiated, poisoned...
Bravery.Love.Spirit.Beauty.Integrity.Soul. Faith.Laughter.Hope.
So you see, these individuals that are faced with this adveristy living within their beings...they are not victims.
These individuals-they are Warriors.
